TxK

TxK
DeveloperLlamasoft
PublisherLlamasoft
DesignerJeff Minter
PlatformPlayStation Vita
Release
  • NA: February 11, 2014
  • EU: February 12, 2014
GenreTube shooter
ModeSingle-player

TxK is an action video game designed by Jeff Minter. It was released on the PlayStation Vita on February 11, 2014. The game was planned for release on other platforms until Atari made legal threats against Llamasoft due to similarities between TxK and Tempest 2000.

It is a tube shooter based on the classic arcade game Tempest. The gameplay expands upon that of the original by including power-ups which grant the player additional abilities. The option is available to play without power-ups, however.

Reception

The game received positive reviews upon release, garnering a score of 84 out of 100 on the review aggregation website Metacritic.

IGN found the updated art style "overwhelming at times" but appreciated the "winning soundtrack and forgiving save system". They said "In the end, I simply couldn't put it down." The game was also praised by Edge magazine who noted the "wonderfully crisp" presentation and declared it to be "twitch gaming at its finest." They concluded by stating "Dynamic, thrilling and wholly invigorating, TxK isn't just one of the best games on Vita: it might just be the best Minter's ever made, too."

On March 18, 2015, Minter posted on Twitter that Atari had made legal threats and issued cease and desist orders due to similarities between TxK and Tempest 2000. He stated that to be unable to release the game on other platforms, but the Vita version was still available.

In 2023, Atari published Llamasoft's Tempest 4000.

References

  1. ↑ Butterworth, Scott (February 19, 2014). "TxK Review". IGN. Retrieved April 4, 2014.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  2. 1 2 "TxK Review". IGN. February 19, 2014. Retrieved September 24, 2016.
  3. ↑ "TxK reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved April 4, 2014.
  4. ↑ Bradford, Matt (September 11, 2014). "Edge Magazine | GamesRadar". Edge-online.com. Archived from the original on March 21, 2014. Retrieved September 24, 2016.
  5. ↑ Yin, Wesley (March 18, 2015). "Jeff Minter "beyond disgusted" with Atari over TxK block". Eurogamer.net. Retrieved September 24, 2016.
  6. ↑ "Jeff Minter on Twitter: "also, the people calling themselves 'Atari' bully me about TxK, but this is perfectly OK"". Twitter. March 18, 2015. Archived from the original on March 5, 2016. Retrieved September 24, 2016.
  7. ↑ "Infringement of Tempest and Tempest 2000 letter" (PDF). Minotaurproject.co.uk. Retrieved September 24, 2016.